A journey for women over 50 who are looking for renewal and self discovery

Well it’s over, I reached 100 days, but not my goal of losing 50 pounds. I lost 14 pounds.

Am I disappointed…no not really. Could I have done more, perhaps. Well, I’m now on cholesterol meds, a true disappointment. Turns out my cholesterol level jumped 30 points under my diet. The doc says I’m genetically pron to high cholesterol. I’m scheduled for knee surgery cause I’ve got a torn meniscus and after a month or more I’ll be as good as new. That’s when I’ll be back. I’m going to do this again, I’m going to lose more weight, continue to improve my health and taking life on one day at a time.

If not being able to bike these past few weeks hasn’t been enough, my MRI on my knee revealed that I have a torn meniscus. That’s the cushion that the ball of the knee rests on. It’s a small tear and while I’m feeling better, I still can’t squat or bend my knee normally. The doc said that at any time, it could act up again and again. So I’m vying for surgery. Yeah, microscopic surgery. They still have to knock me out and I do have the risk of a traveling blood clot, but I’m going to do everything he says to prevent that from happening.

As for my cholesterol level, my family doctor called to tell me that he needed to see me. That doesn’t sound good, guess my numbers didn’t drop down far enough. Darn it, I’ll have to go on cholesterol drugs. I was hoping to avoid that. Nonetheless, I have lost 14 pounds!

What I’ve learned is I need to include exercise in my life to lose weight. I can’t lose weight just by watching what I eat. I can maintain my weight by watching what I eat, but not lose weight. I learned that while I pursued foods that encourage healthy cholesterol levels, it really didn’t eliminate my need to take cholesterol lowering drugs. But I am healthier for it and I think I’ll benefit down the road for pursuing a healthier lifestyle.

I’m scheduled for my knee surgery the day before Thanksgiving and it will take about four months to get full use of my knee back. When that happens, I’m going to begin my 100 day journey all over again…but this time I only need to lose 36 pounds…a bit more realistic? If all goes well. If all goes well.

My daughter got some bad news the other day, a young man she knew from high school was killed in a gun accident. She’s taking the news hard. He was 21 years old. Her friend was going out with the guys to practice shooting guns. I understand the dad asked to go along and brought his own guns. He handed one to his son, but it didn’t have a safety lock on it and the son accidentally shot himself. While he was rushed to the hospital, he didn’t survive.
I feel for the family, for the Dad, for my daughter. What a tragedy, no good comes from guns.

No matter how hard you try to control their worlds, you can’t control fate. When my kids were small, I remember calling the homes of children they wanted to visit to see if the parents had guns in the house before I’d let them hang. Overly cautious, maybe, but I was more comfortable dropping them off. Most of the time, I simply invited their friends to hang at our house.

But when they’re adults, they are on their own and you can only hope, wish, pray that each day will be normal and they’ll grow to a ripe old age.

I now know what my mom felt each time I left the house without telling her where I was going and when I’d be home. And when they’re away at college, that feeling grows to include “I wonder if they’re home safe.” Thank goodness for texting. I secretly love when my daughter texts me to wake her up at 6 or 8 in the morning, cause I know she’s in her bed, safe. It brings me back to the time when I tucked her him, sang her a song, and kissed her goodnight.

Hurray, I’ve lost another pound! Down 14 and my doctor’s appointment is scheduled for the 29th. That’s only 87 days into my journey, but I think I’m ready. My hubby has lost 20 pounds eating the same foods I have been eating and he recently had his blood work done and discovered that his cholesterol levels are now at the level of someone who does aerobics daily. I’m looking forward to my results.

I’m also going to have an MRI done on my knee on the 29th. I want to know what’s causing my discomfort so I can get back to biking 5 miles a day. I miss it. The doctor believes it could be scar tissue. Without biking, my aggressive weight loss goals are on the back burner. So I’m anxious to get moving.

Speaking of moving, working part time is agreeing with me. I’m wearing a pedometer and I walked 8,900 steps the other day. They say that 2000 steps equals one mile so I’ve been busy. I’m also glad to be “out in the world.” Working at home does have its social limits. While there hasn’t been much time for socializing, the interaction is nice and I’ve been supplementing my income and that feels great. Once I’ve completed training, it’s a commission only job, but I can sell so I’m looking forward to the challenge. Like tennis, sales rely totally on the skill of the individual. If I close, I win and I’ve been selling to the press for years.

I’ve also begun to realize that becoming an empty nester is getting closer and closer as my son has begun the college application process. While he’s applied locally to Clemson, he’s applying to colleges in Florida, New York and California and they all have a major price tag. Another reason to be happy I’m supplementing my income.

I’ve learned that it really doesn’t matter which one he selects as they all cost about the same. The real difference will be how far he wants to commute. If he’s in California, I’ll see him at Christmas and over the summer. If it’s New York, we could visit with him when we visit his sister who attends college in Manhattan. Florida would be a day’s drive and Clemson a few hour’s drive away. It will be interesting to see where he lands as he’s getting letters from colleges all over the country; I can only hope one of them will come with a scholarship!

I’m down 13 pounds! I finally broke through my plateau and lost two more pounds by watching what I eat. It could have, would have, been more if I was biking, but I decided to stop biking again until I saw a doctor. So I made an appointment and had an x-ray taken. The x-ray showed no damage, so now I have to wait to see if my insurance will approve an MRI. The doctor believes I’ve stressed my “Anserine bursa” and the discomfort I’m feeling is from inflammation. So he wrote me a prescription, told me to remember to stretch before I exercise and advised me to have the distance between my bike seat and pedal checked to make sure I’m not bending my knee too much. Good advise, but I’d feel better if I got an MRI to see what is really happening.

While I was being checked, the nurse took my blood pressure, it was 90 over 60. She couldn’t believe how good it was so she took it twice. Not bad, when I started this adventure, my blood pressure had slowly climbed to 115 over 80. I’ve averaged around 112 over 68 for years. So my healthful diet and walking Stacey May is beginning to show its benefits and I’m pleased.

I also started a part-time job this week. I wanted something that would help with my daughter’s monthly college expenses and keep my debt in check. I’m in training now. It’s sales. The hours are great if you want to pursue other interests, and heck, I’ve been selling images and change for years so why not. Once I’m done training, it’s purely commission which is a bit unnerving, but I’ll be working nights and weekends. That’s great because I still have time to work on PR contracts and start other ventures. It’s a win/win for me.

Then I found out another benefit to working part-time. The person who’s training me said that she lost 30 pounds when she first started working there. Gee make money and lose weight, I could really like this arrangement.

So things have been moving forward, not perfect, but moving forward. I honestly believe that when one door closes another opens. Sometimes you have to look really hard to find it, but it’s there if you just look. Now I just want to see where this door leads me.

Well, talk about a plateau, still holding at 11 pounds. I guess the doctor was right, it was going to be “really hard to lose weight quickly when you don’t have a thyroid to control your metabolism and you’re going through menopause.” The good news, I’m holding at 11 pounds. In the mean time, hubby is dropping weight; he’s dropped 15 pounds! It’s like a fountain of youth for him…he’s dropped five years off his age, too!

As for me I tried biking again, but it irritated my knee so I’m put off biking 5-miles a day for another week. About two weeks ago, I twisted my knee enough to irritate an old cartilage injury from high school. And since I don’t want to create a permanent problem, I’ll give it a little longer to mend. Heck it’s been raining so much I really couldn’t bike anyway. My hubby, on the other hand, has a gym at work so he’s been keeping up with his regiment, faithfully, and it’s showing.

In addition to changing my physical being, I’m trying to change my professional life. Jobs in my field are beginning to open up so I’m sending resumes out left and right. I was told by one recruiter that she received 150 resumes for her open position. I was one of the lucky ones who got an interview. In fact I’ve gotten four interviews in the last month.

It’s helped that I’ve toned down my resume to one page which is hard when you have 18 years of experience. But I haven’t been able to tone down my examples in the interview because I am who I am. I’ve worked at the global level and as a director and so before the end of the interview, I get the “You’re very talented with a lot of experience, why would you want this job?” Well let me see, because I need a job? Because there aren’t any jobs at my level I can apply for in the state? Because I want to work and you’re getting a lot more for your money so I figure I’m a bargain? It’s maddening.

So while I’ll wait for the one interview where the manager I’ll be working for has enough confidence in his/her skills that I won’t be a threat, I’m going to get a part-time job. In fact, I got one yesterday. I’m going to sell cars, yeah, used cars. I figure if I can sell company images to the public and sell stories to the national press, I can sell cars to people who need them. So for now I’ve signed up with the No. 1 seller of vehicles in Charleston, Carmax.

My brother worked for them in Maryland and their reputation for reselling quality is real. It will mean working every weekend, but I’m okay with that. In fact, now that I’m on board, the GM suggested I monitor corporate jobs and go for one if it opens up or I can apply for a management job at the dealership once I get some experience and “prove myself.” Well I’m up for the challenge, but are they ready for me? We’ll see if we can make this a win/win for all concerned.

The truth of the matter is I’m over 50, I’m a baby boomer and we’re at a disadvantage in the job hunt. Why invest in someone who will only work for the next 15 years when I can hire someone who can give 25 years. Wake up America, the average worker gives 5 to 8 years and moves on. If you hire a boomer, we’re so grateful for the employment, we’ll stay until retirement and you’d benefit from the experience we bring to the table at NO EXTRA CHARGE.

Well Carmax must get this cause there are a few sales associates who are my age or older, most of them in gold uniforms or the president’s level…not because of seniority but because they get it. They are selling cars and reaching their objectives. For boomers, it’s in our nature to work hard. Personally, I think it’s a shame that all this PR experience is being wasted, but I’m not the only person in this situation. The economy is blind to age, race, sex…it hits all of us in some way and it’s been a tough time for many. There are many boomer professionals flipping burgers, greeting guests at Wal-Mart and selling anything and everything to make a buck. Good for them, they haven’t given up.

Guess you never know what life will bring you, I’m just glad I know how to make lemonade out of the lemons life gives me.

Hurrah, my knee is all better and so it’s back to biking for me! Now, if it would just stop raining. Granted I’m a rainy day kind of gal. I love it when it rains, it relaxes me. Maybe by this evening the rain will stop and I’ll be able to make my 5-mile ride. If not, it’s also a great day to curl up with a book.

I’ve been reading about Hypnosis. I’m researching the topic for a book I’m starting to write. I actually did the initial research before I was married and then only thought about it over the years. So I’ve decided it’s time. It’s a thriller wrapped around the Salem witch trials. Yeah it’s another witching novel. I don’t like vampires or werewolves so it’s witches for me. I grew up reading Stephen King and I got the itch to do this book when I visited Salem, MA years ago. It’s placed in modern times so it’s not really a rehash of the same old story.

I’ve got a few other story ideas that I want to pursue. Another book I’ve outlined is for 5th and 6th graders. It’s a comedic fantasy that is sure to keep kids entertained. I’m going to continue with both and see which one earns my full attention and then we’ll see what happens. As for the others, they’ll have to wait.

Why two books at once? They say that when you write books, they become a part of your reality. While I look forward to bringing my characters to life and creating the story lines I’ve been contemplating for years, I think splitting my attention on both will ground me, keep me from getting writer’s block and keep my creative juices running.